Background
Joseph Robert Davis was born on January 12, 1825, at Woodville, Mississippi, United States. He was a son of Isaac Davis and Susan Garthy. He was the nephew of future Confederate president Jefferson Davis.
501 E High St, Oxford, OH 45056, United States
Joseph's father accordingly sent him to Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
501 E High St, Oxford, OH 45056, United States
Joseph's father accordingly sent him to Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Joseph Robert Davis was born on January 12, 1825, at Woodville, Mississippi, United States. He was a son of Isaac Davis and Susan Garthy. He was the nephew of future Confederate president Jefferson Davis.
Educational advantages were meager about his father’s plantations in Wilkinson and Warren counties, so as a boy Joseph was sent to Nashville, Tennessee, for his preliminary training. The law seemed to afford the best opportunity for the advancement of aspiring youth, and Joseph's father accordingly sent him to Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Trained in the law, Joseph Davis practiced his profession in Madison County, Mississippi, and was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1860. Entering the Confederate service as Captain of Militia from Madison County, Mississippi, Davis was soon made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Tenth Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers, after which he served on his uncle's staff in Richmond as an aide de camp with the rank of Colonel of Cavalry.
Commissioned a brigadier general to rank from September 15, 1862, and confirmed by the Senate only after charges of nepotism were freely aired and his nomination once rejected, Davis was assigned a brigade in Heth's Division, Army of Northern Virginia, which he led through some of the bitterest battles of the war.
He fought at Gettysburg (where his command formed support to Pickett in the celebrated third day), in the Wilderness Campaign, and at the siege of St. Petersburg. After the war, Davis resumed his law practice in Mississippi.
For his military service, Joseph Davis was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, an assignment that carried with it command of an infantry brigade, received command of a brigade in Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and fought the remainder of the war in the Eastern Theater, participating in some of the war's most horrific battles. His brigade, made up mostly of Mississippi troops, served in Henry Heth's division and took part in the Battle of Gettysburg as one of the first units to see action on 1 July.
Joseph Davis was a member of the Democratic Party. He supported the Davis administration.
President Davis described his nephew as "discreet, gentlemanly and of sound judgment."
Joseph married Frances Peyton in 1848. He divorced Frances in 1878 and married Margaret Green the following year.
1792-1834
1794-1874
1823-1831
1847-1939
1883-1884
1886-1951
1887-1945
